Wave Watch: Clouds loom for GOP

We call this column “Wave Watch” because that’s what everyone expects to be doing on Tuesday night — watching a wave of Democratic congressional victories from Florida to Oregon and everywhere in between.

But heading into the final weekend of campaigning, we’re going to take a look at a few Republicans who might buck the trend, and the Democrats who might suffer the ignoble history of losing in one of the best years ever for their party.

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Call it the Republican “silver lining” list, even though this lining is really, really thin.

Let’s start with the Republicans favorite boogeyman, Rep. John P Murtha (D-Pa.), who is in deep trouble — so much so that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee pumped more than $400,000 into his race in the final days.

Murtha, the powerful chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, thought he would coast to victory until he announced, with cameras rolling, that his constituents were racist and his western Pennsylvania district was “really redneck.” Now polls show Murtha in a dead heat with his Republican challenger, retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. William Russell.

If Murtha loses, it would be one heck of a pelt for Republicans to limp home with at the end of a long election night.

“Calling American soldiers cold blooded killers and the voters of your district racists and rednecks is a good way to make a non-competitive election a competitive one,” said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain. “After four decades in Congress, it is safe to say that John Murtha has grown out of touch.”